Content:

(BB, Acap, L, VV, SS, NNN, D, M) Strong moral worldview opposing totalitarianism, with some anti-capitalism content that takes the form of anti-consumerism; one or two strong obscenities or profanities; torturous beating on TV and robot police hit or poke people with electric shock sticks; depicted fornication; upper and rear female nudity in several shots, full female nudity in one shot; no alcohol; people forced to take drugs; and, totalitarian government, corrupt bureaucrat and man steals police car.

Summary:

George Lucas has slightly updated his early science fiction masterpiece, THX-1138, a bizarre story about a man trying to liberate himself from an underground totalitarian society that drugs its citizens and offers them TV sex and violence. Though filled with bizarre sights and sounds, THX-1138 is an exhilarating tale of liberation, but it contains strong scenes of sex, nudity and violence, filmed in a detached manner.

Review:

George Lucas has slightly updated his early science fiction masterpiece, THX-1138, starring Robert Duvall.

Duvall plays the title role, a worker bee in an underground totalitarian society that drugs its citizens and offers them sex and violence on their television sets. THX doesn’t realize that his female roommate, LUH, has diluted their drugs. THX begins feeling ill and tries to seek help at one of the government’s automated counselors, who appears as a robot monk mouthing platitudes about consumerism and the State.

THX and LUH make love against the laws, and they are both arrested. After being tortured, they are separated. THX is placed in a large white room without boundaries with a group of other men. The robot policemen don’t seem to be watching them, so THX starts walking away into the vast white expanse. He is followed by an oily ex-bureaucrat, played superbly by Donald Pleasance.

THX goes in search of LUH. When he finds that her number has been reprogrammed to someone else, he tries to escape the city and go to the surface. There begins one of the most exciting, exhilarating and tense chase scenes in the history of cinema.

Most people will not find this bizarre movie to their liking, but it is filled with many of the favorite themes that Lucas placed in his STAR WARS epics. For example, the totalitarian society is monotone in color, filled with blacks and whites, just like the Empire’s storm troopers in the STAR WARS movies. Also, the hero, THX, much like Luke Skywalker, goes through a series of adventures as he tries to escape the totalitarian government that imprisons him and the other citizens. At the end of his journey, THX runs into a tribe of little people, much like the Ewoks in RETURN OF THE JEDI. The difference between these heroes and the totalitarian governments they fight, is that the heroes can transcend artificial, restrictive and arbitrary boundaries, but the governments cannot.

Though filled with bizarre sights and sounds, THX-1138 is an exhilarating tale of liberation. Regrettably, however, the movie has a couple strong sex scenes, a long shot of full female nudity and some shots of upper female nudity, and strong scenes of torture where victims are hit with electric-shock sticks (but with no gore). Shot in a detached manner, these elements are excessive and could easily have been cut.

In Brief:

George Lucas has slightly updated his early science fiction masterpiece, THX-1138. Robert Duvall plays the title role, a worker bee in an underground totalitarian society that drugs its citizens and offers them TV sex and violence. THX doesn’t realize that his female roommate, LUH, has diluted their drugs. THX feels sick and tries to seek help at one of the government’s automated counselors, a robot monk mouthing platitudes about the State. THX and LUH make love, which is against the law, and are both arrested for criminal drug evasion. After being tortured, they are separated. Soon, THX escapes to search the city for LUH. He is followed by an oily ex-bureaucrat, played superbly by Donald Pleasance.

Though filled with bizarre sights and sounds, THX-1138 is an exhilarating tale of liberation. The movie is filled with many of the favorite themes that Lucas placed in his STAR WARS epics. Regrettably, the movie has a couple strong sex scenes, extreme nudity and strong scenes of torture where victims are hit with electric-shock sticks (but with no gore). These elements are excessive and could easily have been cut or reduced without losing much of anything worthwhile.

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